Isaac stood up, pacing back and forth like he did when still made of flesh and blood. "First of all, I don't think anything is random. You taught me that. And I don't think this is a regular person. I think it's Vigil."
Ronnie groaned. "Not that again."
"I'm serious, Ronnie. Three different incidents where someone targets criminals. But he doesn't kill the like a rival organization would. He's careful not to kill needlessly."
"That doesn't mean some sixty-year-old vigilante suddenly decided to get back in the game either, Isaac."
"Not saying he has. But what if he passed the mantle? Vigil had a sidekick back in the day, right? What did the press call him? Wonder Boy or something like that?"
Ronnie frowned. "I thought his sidekick was a girl."
"Either way, he or she would be in their prime right now. Think about it. Someone who worked with the original Vigil. Learned from him. Has access to his data, his tech. Wouldn't take much to strap on the gear and be the next Vigil."
"Yeah, maybe." She toyed with her curls, considering. "But say you're right. Former sidekick takes on the silver helmet. Whoever this person is, he's stirred up the natives and got the Haven's attention."
"Taking the heat off us."
"Doesn't matter. He's breaking the law."
"He's taking out the trash."
"What, you support this guy? Think he's a hero?"
Isaac's eyes glimmered. "He saved those kids, Ronnie. We didn't even catch a whisper of that operation."
She folded her arms. "Doesn't mean we wouldn't have in time."
"Don't get that stubborn look, Ronnie. I'm not proposing you work with the guy."
"That's good, because you know the department doesn't support vigilantism. We have enough on our hands dealing with Nimrods tearing up the city looking for bounties."
"Yeah, I get it. But like I said, if this guy takes the heat off us, then we can get back to some unresolved business, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah." She glanced down at his shriveled, nearly unrecognizable face inside the capsule. "I know what you mean."
Chapter 16
Arthur gave Jett an incredulous look. "A cape?"
Jett fingered the shape-memory polymer fabric. "Yeah. I took this from the slave den when we left. They used it to disguise the entrance, but I think it'll come in handy for stakeouts and avoiding detection. Like an invisibility cloak."
"Sounds like something from a fantasy novel. I think you might be getting too caught up in this 'knight in cyber armor' role you've adopted." Arthur directed his chair over for a closer look at the material. Shadows of the basement lair pressed in from all around, warded away by a single ceiling light over the work table. A line of Vigil suits in enclosed chambers stood by like silent sentinels, barely visible in the gloom.
"A cape isn't practical, Jett. They snag, get tangled, and inhibit movement."
"We make it retractable, then. Able to engage when I need it and retracted back into its housing when I don't. Can you do it?"
"Of course I can do it." Arthur studied Jett, who appeared completely absorbed in his new idea. "You want to talk about what happened?"
Jett looked up. "You mean the mission? Everything went well, all things considered. Complete success. Even the RCE did their job."
"I'm talking about what you found out. The Denizens."
"What about them?"
"You plan on going to war with the residents of Haven Core? You'll lose."
"I'm not planning on taking on the Haven, Arthur. I didn't even know I'd find Denizens down there. I was just trying to rescue some kids."
"Yeah, well you definitely kicked the hornet's nest. You're going to have to lay low for a while."
Jett scoffed. "You think Haven watchdogs are going to come at me for the sake of some child molesters?"
"You're looking at the situation the wrong way. HC doesn't care about the Dens you captured. They'll probably leave them to rot. But no matter how you look at it, the Haven was exposed in ways they can't just ignore. They were humiliated."
"By their own citizens."
"By an outsider. Someone who decided to take things into his own hands. Someone who dared to lay hands on a group of Denizens, who everyone knows are untouchable. There will be repercussions, Jett. Not openly, of course. They don't want to acknowledge you as an enemy publicly. It would make them appear weak. But it wouldn't be beyond them to put a contract out through private channels."
"I'll be careful."
"You'll be dead." Arthur handed Jett a small, pyramid-shaped mechanism.
"What's this?"
"ECM."
"Electronic countermeasure? This a personal version?"
"That's right. Powered by light, propelled by tiny fusion motors to hover in your vicinity. Deploy several of those around you and surveillance won't be able to record you. You'll be a ghost in the system. More practical than your invisibility cloak."
"Sure, for surveillance. But the cape will hide me from the naked eye when I need it. No harm in getting the best of both worlds." Jett paused in front of a stack of equipment crates. He leaned closer. "What's this?"
"What's what?"
Jett pointed. "Golding Enterprises. Are we using his tech?"
"Of course we are. You know William Golding?"
Jett's jaw clenched as he appeared to combat some internal struggle. "Barely. The day of the Cataclysm, my team infiltrated his stasis station. There was a battle with a gang of Deviants. My team died in the fight. Golding… saved my life. Put me in a spare stasis pod. That's how I survived. That's how I'm here right now. It was Golding."
His fist slammed into the metal tabletop. "But he left me there. He was awakened on schedule, resuscitated, and abandoned me in there. Asleep in some high-tech tomb with no explanation. If I wasn't discovered by those scavengers, I would still be there right now."
"Maybe he considered it punishment," Arthur said. "From what I know of Golding, he certainly appears the imperial sort. Believing others beneath him because they don't share his genius and vision. You fought to enter his refuge, to steal away his immortality if you will."
"If my team hadn't arrived, the Deviants would have found a way inside. His precious immortality wouldn't have amounted to much then."
"And thus, your reward. You survived. Your awakening was left to chance, but you survived."
Jett nodded. "That makes us even, I guess. Have you met him?"
"Golding? No. The tale is he wormed his way into Haven Core shortly after awakening."
"How did he do that?"
"I don't know. I'd guess he had something they wanted. Shortly after his induction, the razing stopped."
"Razing?"
"Haven Core would periodically destroy parts of Neo York, particularly when people built residences too close to the Haven. Like we're infectious or something. They were careful not to outright slaughter anyone." He shrugged. "A few deaths here and there. The point was that they didn't want us around. We weren't welcome."
Jett ran his fingers across the DNA strand logo on the crates. "Until Golding showed up."
"Right. That was nearly fifty years ago. I wasn't even born. But everyone knows. He made a deal with Haven Core. The razing stopped. But surveillance increased a hundredfold. Drones, hidden cameras on every street and buildings. Rumors of artificial insects used to spy on us. Then Holovisors became so cheap even scabs could afford them. Haze parlors on every corner, offering cheap thrills via Sensync memory immersion."
"And you think Golding is behind all of that? What's his endgame?"
"Isn't it obvious? Power isn't measured by money anymore."
"The hell it isn't. You might not have noticed in your little museum here, but poor people are still treated like garbage out there."
"Perhaps I misspoke. I meant to say that true power is information. And what greater information is there than direct access to the human mind?"